Score a hit and a miss for federal regulators.

Nearly three years ago I wrote a piece for the now-defunct New York Sun complaining about delays from New York’s Kennedy International Airport (JFK). In August 2007, nearly a third of scheduled departures were late. The average delay was an hour and many planes waited far longer. But why would a plane leave the gate only to get in a big line? As it happens, at most major U.S. airports the FAA grants permission to take off on a “first come, first served” basis—and “first come” is defined by pushing off from the gate, even if this means queuing up behind 40 or 50 other planes, burning fuel to keep the plane’s cabin temperature tolerable and roll the plane forward a few feet every couple of minutes. Thus the FAA rule guarantees a level of tarmac congestion that can spiral out of control when other factors—like weather—intervene.

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The latest US Employment Report reminds us again of the “jobless recovery” phrase first used to refer to the recession of 1991.  The report shows Private Non-Farm Payrolls in July grew by an anemic 71,000 jobs, falling short of consensus estimates.  The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.5 percent, stable only because of the 181,000 people who left the workforce.  Falling labor force participation rates indicate that a growing amount of people find the job market particularly unwelcoming. So we continue to play the waiting game—when, oh when, will the job market improve?

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